Cheers for Monday, Feb. 24, 2013

-- To some school boards who are giving the students they serve a lesson in real life.

The latest example comes from Highland, where the board has extended a formal invitation to students to come to meetings and share their opinions about the value of various programs.

Such sessions usually amount to a recitation of the classes and activities that students want to see retained, and not much more. If boards are going to turn these into more than just feel-good publicity, they need to ask the students to apply the critical-thinking skills they are supposed to be honing to the problem at hand.

Let the students talk about what they would keep — but also what they would reduce or eliminate. That would be educational for everyone.

--- To Newburgh police and the community organizations that are helping fund and organize gun buyback programs in a city where too may guns in the wrong hands has been a problem for a long time.

Since the buyback began in mid January, city police have collected 106 guns in return for grocery gift certificates. These are weapons that were no longer being used or wanted. Most importantly, by getting them out of the home, they could not be accidentally discharged or stolen.

Police plan one more buyback session on March 16 at Street Rock Ministries, 60 Dubois St.

Guns can also be turned in at police stations in Newburgh, Middletown and Port Jervis, as well as the Orange County Sheriff's Office in Goshen until March 18.

-- To the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary for giving a famous goat a comfortable home. The goat became a local TV and Internet sensation when he escaped from a Brooklyn slaughterhouse Feb. 8. A security guard and former goat herder captured him and turned him over to police for what seemed to be an inevitable return to the slaughterhouse.

Then the sanctuary stepped in, and Wilfred the goat found the kind of Woodstock welcome that has greeted many another refugee from Brooklyn. While he is still adjusting, Wilfred can look forward to a lifetime of care with other goats and about 200 other rescued farm animals.

-- To some Newburgh taxi drivers who helped police capture a suspect fleeing a robbery of another taxi driver; they then kept on alert and helped police locate and take a second suspect into custody.

These drivers, who are on the city streets and nearby roads all around the clock, every day of the week, can offer valuable help to the police.

-- To the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless, which is opening its food pantry to military veterans every second and fourth Friday afternoon.

In addition to helping veterans fill bags with food, the federation has representatives from several veterans organizations and others on hand to share information.

As one person who helps veterans explained, a lot of veterans are too embarrassed to ask for help, so efforts like this bring together people who have had similar experiences and who can share both resources and advice.